I n t e r n a t i o n a l

T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n

ITU-T
TELECOMMUNICATION
STANDARDIZATION SECTOR
OF ITU

U n i o n

M.3050
Supplement 4
(02/2007)

SERIES M: TELECOMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT,

INCLUDING TMN AND NETWORK MAINTENANCE
Telecommunications management network

Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM)

Supplement 4: An eTOM primer

ITU-T Recommendation M.3050 Supplement 4

ITU-T M-SERIES RECOMMENDATIONS

TELECOMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING TMN AND NETWORK MAINTENANCE
Introduction and general principles of maintenance and maintenance organization
International transmission systems
International telephone circuits
Common channel signalling systems
International telegraph systems and phototelegraph transmission
International leased group and supergroup links
International leased circuits
Mobile telecommunication systems and services
International public telephone network
International data transmission systems
Designations and information exchange
International transport network
Telecommunications management network
Integrated services digital networks
Common channel signalling systems
For further details, please refer to the list of ITU-T Recommendations.

M.10M.299
M.300M.559
M.560M.759
M.760M.799
M.800M.899
M.900M.999
M.1000M.1099
M.1100M.1199
M.1200M.1299
M.1300M.1399
M.1400M.1999
M.2000M.2999
M.3000M.3599
M.3600M.3999
M.4000M.4999

ITU-T Recommendation M.3050

Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM)

Supplement 4
An eTOM primer

Summary
ITU-T M.3050.x Recommendation sub-series contain a reference framework for categorizing the
business activities that a service provider will use. The Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (or
eTOM for short), which has been developed by the TeleManagement Forum, describes the enterprise
processes required by a service provider and analyses them to different levels of detail according to
their significance and priority for the business. This business process approach has built on the
concepts of Management Services and Functions in order to develop a framework for categorizing
all the business activities.
This supplement provides an introductory view of some of the concepts, goals and structure of the
eTOM work. It should be read in conjunction with the ITU-T M.3050.x Recommendation sub-series
and Supplements.

Source
Supplement 4 to ITU-T Recommendation M.3050 was agreed on 14 February 2007 by ITU-T Study
Group 4 (2005-2008).
The ITU-T M.3050.x Recommendation sub-series is based on the Enhanced Telecom Operations
Map (eTOM) which has been developed by the TeleManagement Forum (TMF).

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

FOREWORD
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency in the field of
telecommunications. The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is a permanent organ of
ITU. ITU-T is responsible for studying technical, operating and tariff questions and issuing
Recommendations on them with a view to standardizing telecommunications on a worldwide basis.
The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), which meets every four years,
establishes the topics for study by the ITU-T study groups which, in turn, produce Recommendations on
these topics.
The approval of ITU-T Recommendations is covered by the procedure laid down in WTSA Resolution 1.
In some areas of information technology which fall within ITU-T's purview, the necessary standards are
prepared on a collaborative basis with ISO and IEC.

NOTE
In this publication, the expression "Administration" is used for conciseness to indicate both a
telecommunication administration and a recognized operating agency.
Compliance with this publication is voluntary. However, the publication may contain certain mandatory
provisions (to ensure e.g. interoperability or applicability) and compliance with the publication is achieved
when all of these mandatory provisions are met. The words "shall" or some other obligatory language such
as "must" and the negative equivalents are used to express requirements. The use of such words does not
suggest that compliance with the publication is required of any party.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

ITU draws attention to the possibility that the practice or implementation of this publication may involve the
use of a claimed Intellectual Property Right. ITU takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or
applicability of claimed Intellectual Property Rights, whether asserted by ITU members or others outside of
the publication development process.
As of the date of approval of this publication, ITU had not received notice of intellectual property, protected
by patents, which may be required to implement this publication. However, implementers are cautioned that
this may not represent the latest information and are therefore strongly urged to consult the TSB patent
database at http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/ipr/.

ITU 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the
prior written permission of ITU.

ii

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

CONTENTS
Page
1

Scope ............................................................................................................................

References.....................................................................................................................

Definitions ....................................................................................................................

Abbreviations and acronyms ........................................................................................

Introduction ..................................................................................................................
5.1
What is eTOM? ..............................................................................................
5.2
Where did eTOM come from? .......................................................................

2
2
3

How does eTOM work?................................................................................................

6.1
Process decompositions..................................................................................
6.2
Process flows ..................................................................................................

4
4
11

Why use eTOM?...........................................................................................................

17

When can eTOM help?.................................................................................................

17

Who is using eTOM?....................................................................................................

17

10

Some ideas on using eTOM..........................................................................................

10.1
Service providers ............................................................................................
10.2
Vendors...........................................................................................................
10.3
Bringing eTOM into your business Some hints and suggestions................

19
19
19
20

11

Administrative appendix...............................................................................................
11.1
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................
11.2
About TeleManagement Forum .....................................................................

22
22
22

Bibliography.............................................................................................................................

23

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iii

ITU-T Recommendation M.3050

Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM)

Supplement 4
An eTOM primer
1

Scope

The Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) [b-TMF GB921] has been developed by the
TeleManagement Forum as a reference framework for categorizing all the business activities that a
service provider will use.
This Recommendation is part of a series of ITU-T texts dealing with eTOM (Release 7.0), which
have the following structure:
M.3050.0
eTOM Introduction.
M.3050.1
eTOM The business process framework. (TMF GB921 Release 7.0).
M.3050.2
eTOM Process decompositions and descriptions. (TMF GB921
Addendum D Release 7.0).
M.3050.3
eTOM Representative process flows. (TMF GB921 Addendum F
Release 4.5).
M.3050.4
eTOM B2B integration: Using B2B inter-enterprise integration with
the eTOM. (TMF GB921 Addendum B Release 6.1).
M.3050 Supplement 1
eTOM ITIL application note (TMF GB921 Application note V
Release 6.0).
M.3050 Supplement 2
eTOM Public B2B Business Operations Map (BOM). (TMF GB921
Addendum C Release 4).
M.3050 Supplement 3
eTOM to M.3400 mapping.
M.3050 Supplement 4
An eTOM primer (TMF GB921 Addendum P Release 4.5).
Additional parts will be published as material becomes available.
This series of ITU-T Recs M.3050.x build on the management services approach described in
[ITU-T M.3010] and [ITU-T M.3200] by developing a business process framework.
This supplement provides a mapping to the IT Infrastructure Library.
2

References

The following ITU-T Recommendations and other references contain provisions which, through
reference in this text, constitute provisions of this Recommendation. At the time of publication, the
editions indicated were valid. All Recommendations and other references are subject to revision;
users of this Recommendation are therefore encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the
most recent edition of the Recommendations and other references listed below. A list of the
currently valid ITU-T Recommendations is published regularly. The reference to a document within
this Recommendation does not give it, as a stand-alone document, the status of a Recommendation.

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

[ITU-T M.3010]

ITU-T Recommendation M.3010 (2000), Principles for a telecommunications

management network.

[ITU-T M.3200]

ITU-T Recommendation M.3200 (1997), TMN management services and

telecommunications managed areas: overview.

Definitions

This Recommendation uses the following term defined elsewhere:

3.1

eTOM: See ITU-T Rec. M.3050.0.

Abbreviations and acronyms

The following abbreviations and acronyms are additional to those defined in ITU-T Rec. M.3050.1:
EM

Enterprise Management

eTOM

enhanced Telecom Operations Map

FAB

Fulfilment, Assurance and Billing

ITIL

IT Infrastructure Library

NGOSS

Next Generation Operations Systems and Software

OSR

Operations Support and Readiness

SIP

Strategy, Infrastructure and Product

SP

Service Provider

SMART

Service Management Automation and Re-engineering Team

TM Forum TeleManagement Forum

5

Introduction

5.1

What is eTOM?

The telecom industry is facing unprecedented churn and the struggle to remain profitable in the face
of more competition, higher customer expectations, falling market share and growing price
pressures. The industry has a need to clearly define and understand the business processes involved
in order to tackle these issues. It also needs to reach a consensus on the common process view for
equipment suppliers, applications builders and integrators to build management systems by
combining third party and in-house developments.
The enhanced Telecom Operations Map (or eTOM for short) is an ongoing TM Forum initiative to
deliver a business process model or framework for use by service providers and others within the
telecommunications industry. The goal is to set a vision for the industry to enable it to compete
successfully through the implementation of business process-driven approaches to managing the
enterprise. This includes ensuring integration among all vital enterprise support systems concerned
with service delivery and support.
The focus of the eTOM is on the business processes used by service providers, the linkages between
these processes, the identification of interfaces and the use of customer, service, resource,
supplier/partner and other information by multiple processes. The TM Forum eTOM business
process framework is a reference framework for categorizing all the business activities that a
service provider will use in a structured manner that allows these to be addressed at various levels
of detail. For such companies, it serves as the blueprint for process direction and provides a neutral
reference point for internal process re-engineering needs, partnerships, alliances and general
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ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

working agreements with other providers. For suppliers, eTOM outlines potential boundaries of
software components to align with the customers' needs and highlights the required functions,
inputs and outputs that must be supported by products.
A particular strength of eTOM as a business process framework is that it is part of the TM Forum
NGOSS (Next Generation Operations Systems and Software) program and links with other work
under way in NGOSS.
So, eTOM defines a telecommunications service provider business process framework. This means
that it is oriented to SPs in the telecommunications sector (although it has been found to be useful in
other areas also) and it aims to provide a business-oriented view of the SP enterprise. This view is
useful for planners, managers, strategists, etc., who need to view the enterprise in business terms
without immediate concern for the nature of the way that these business needs are organized or
automated within the business. Therefore, eTOM emphasizes issues such as process structure,
process components, process interactivity and the business roles and responsibilities to which these
relate. In defining these aspects, eTOM also provides a basis for setting requirements for system
solutions, technical architectures, technology choices and implementation paths but it is neutral
towards the particular way that these requirements are met.
Thus, eTOM can be considered to have two faces: one oriented towards the business, customer,
products, etc., and one towards solutions, systems and implementations supporting the business.
It should be recognized that, through the TM Forum work, eTOM represents an industry-consensus
on the service provider processes, which has been harmonized across the global scene and is based
on member contributions. It is allowable, and indeed expected, that this will mean that eTOM must
be tailored and/or extended for use within an individual company. In particular, eTOM does not
seek to constrain the way that the processes fit into a specific organization. An advantage of this
positioning of eTOM as a framework, rather than a directly-implemented specification, is that
differentiation amongst eTOM users is not restricted, which is vital to allow specialization and
competition. In addition, as already mentioned, eTOM does not fix upon particular routes to
implementation and is thus valid in many different environments with varying levels of automation,
technology, etc.
So, eTOM is a framework, not a final implementation specification. It will typically be customized
and extended by users for their own business needs but provides a vital common reference that is
industry-recognized and represents a de facto standard, and now, through ITU-T, an official
standard within and between companies on business process definition.
5.2

Where did eTOM come from?

Work on business process modelling by the TeleManagement Forum (formerly the Network
Management Forum) began in the early 1990s with the Service Management Automation and
Re-engineering Team (SMART) that gathered worldwide service provider views and distilled an
initial business process model. This work grew in the Telecom Operations Map (TOM) during the
mid-90s, leading to the stabilization and publication of TOM in its final form towards the end of
that decade.
The TOM work gained wide industry support but the scope of the TOM model did not cover the
whole of the SP enterprise and only focused on the main operations processes embodying the
traditional telecoms activities around fulfilment, assurance and billing (FAB). Increasingly, the
complexities of interworking in the deregulated, competitive telecoms market required a complete
enterprise view, and new business demands triggered by the Internet, and electronic commerce
generally, led to a move to expand TOM to address this wider perspective.
Thus, eTOM for enhanced TOM was initiated as a work programme led by TM Forum as we
entered the new millennium. Initial releases of eTOM were provided to TM Forum members during
2001 and then a TM Forum-approved version of eTOM GB921 v3.0 was released in mid-2002.
ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

This was welcomed and adopted widely and so further work to cement agreements, incorporate
industry feedback and extend the level of detail described resulted in further intermediate versions
and then a new TM Forum-approved version early in 2004. This version GB921 v4.0 was also
submitted under a liaison agreement to ITU-T, which acts as the premier worldwide body with a
remit under the United Nations for setting international Recommendations in the
telecommunications sphere. This eTOM version was adopted by ITU-T in toto and has been
published in parallel as the ITU-T M.3050.x Recommendation sub-series with exact alignment on
the content with TM Forum's GB921 v4.0.
Throughout this history, the eTOM work has benefited from wide involvement from the global
telecommunications industry as well as academia, government agencies, etc. As it has evolved, the
core has shown it can stand the test of time and it is now regarded as the pre-eminent vehicle for
expressing and discussing business processes in and around the service provider domain. The work
continues, now with an increasing emphasis that eTOM has established a clear and agreed view of
the business process framework itself, on applications of eTOM and guidance to prospective and
existing users on how to gain maximum benefit from the eTOM in their own businesses.
6

How does eTOM work?

6.1

Process decompositions

Process decomposition is a structured approach to analysis of a business through consideration of

the enterprise's business processes and their internal structure. The basis of the concept is illustrated
in Figure 6-1. Here we see a representative process, Process X, which might provide a specific area
of capability within an enterprise handling of customer orders, for example. When analysed, it is
decided that the contained functionality, behaviour, etc., associated with that process can/should be
sub-divided into three lower-level process elements. Note that typically such a "decomposition" is
partly evident from the analysis of the detail captured within the process concerned and partly is the
result of design decisions, where judgment is used to make the most appropriate partitioning for the
situation under consideration.

Figure 6-1 Process decomposition

Each of the decomposed processes, X1, X2 and X3 can be further decomposed X2 is shown as
decomposed into X21 and X22 and this can be continued X21 is shown as decomposed into
X211 and X212. Note that not all "branches" of the decomposition "tree" necessarily lead to
"leaves" (i.e., final process elements) at the same level of decomposition. This will depend on the
scope and content of the processes involved.

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

The process decomposition approach has the following general characteristics:

It defines components of a process that perform part of that process.

It provides insight into the structure and content of process areas (or groupings).

It reveals finer detail at lower levels, as decomposition proceeds.

It can be continued to as many sub-levels as are needed.

The aim is to provide a complete analysis of the process under decomposition i.e., the
sum of the components equals the totality of the original process.

It represents a static perspective of the process.

It does not mandate any flow relationship between the process elements.
Note that the process elements derived through process decomposition may be applied in various
ways within process flows. There may be many process flows (representing, say, enterprise-specific
applications) that can be built using the common set of process elements specified within the eTOM
framework. There is further discussion on process flows later in this clause, including the process
flow diagrams that arise and are used in this work.
The process decomposition for the eTOM business process framework (see Figure 6-2) begins at
the enterprise level and defines business processes in a series of groupings. The eTOM framework
uses hierarchical decomposition to structure the business processes according to which all of the
processes of the enterprise are successively decomposed. Process descriptions, inputs and outputs,
as well as other key elements, are defined. The eTOM business process framework represents the
whole of a service provider's enterprise environment. The framework is defined as generically as
possible so that it is organization-, technology- and service-independent. At the overall conceptual
level, eTOM can be viewed as having the following three major process areas:

Strategy, infrastructure and product, covering planning and lifecycle management.

Operations, covering the core of operational management.

Enterprise management, covering corporate or business support management.

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

Figure 6-2 eTOM The enhanced Telecom Operations Map

The eTOM framework (see Figure 6-2) shows seven end-to-end vertical process groupings that are
the end-to-end processes that are required to support customers and to manage the business.
Amongst these end-to-end vertical process groupings, the focal point of the eTOM framework is on
the core customer operations processes of fulfilment, assurance and billing (FAB). Operations
support and readiness (OSR) is differentiated from FAB real-time processes to highlight the focus
on enabling support and automation in FAB, i.e., on-line and immediate support of customers, with
OSR ensuring that the operational environment is in place to let the FAB processes do their job.
Outside of the operations process area in the strategy, infrastructure and product (SIP) process
area the strategy and commit vertical, as well as the two lifecycle management verticals, are
differentiated. These are distinct because, unlike operations, they do not directly support the
customer, are intrinsically different from the operations processes and work on different business
time cycles.
The framework also includes views of functionality as they span horizontally across an enterprise's
internal organizations. The horizontal functional process groupings in Figure 6-2 distinguish
functional operations processes and other types of business functional processes, e.g., marketing
versus selling, service development versus service configuration, etc. Amongst these horizontal
functional process groupings, those on the left (that cross the strategy and commit, infrastructure
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ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

lifecycle management and product lifecycle management vertical process groupings) enable,
support and direct the work in the operations process area.
Overall, eTOM is comprised of the business process framework and the model. The eTOM model
graphically illustrates the business processes required for operating service provider enterprises. It
lays out these processes first from a high-level perspective, and then drills down to increasingly
detailed levels of understanding. The eTOM business process framework describes in text what the
model describes graphically.
So, eTOM is structured in three main areas (known as level 0 processes): operations (OPS), strategy
infrastructure and product (SIP) and enterprise management (EM). Each contains more detailed
process components at level 1, level 2, etc., as the processes are decomposed. This hierarchical
decomposition enables detail to be defined in a structured way and also allows the eTOM
framework to be adopted at varying levels and/or for different processes. The level number is an
indication of the degree of detail revealed at that level the higher the number, the more detailed
are the process elements described there.
Operations (OPS see Figure 6-3) is the heart of eTOM and much of the original TOM work has
carried through into OPS (the GB921 documentation contains an explanation of the mapping from
TOM to eTOM). The "FAB" processes (fulfilment, assurance and billing) provide the core of the
operations area. The vertical level 1 processes in FAB represent a view of flow-through of activity,
whereas the horizontal level 1 processes (CRM, SM&O, RM&O, S/PRM) represent functionallyrelated activity. Both views are valid and the model supports both to accommodate different uses
made of the processes. As a separate issue, OSR (operations support and readiness) has been
separated from FAB to reflect the separation between "front-office" real-time operations (in FAB)
from "back-office" near real-time or even off-line support processes. This split may not apply in all
organizations (in which case, the OSR and FAB processes can be merged) but is necessary to allow
for the important situation where they are handled separately.

Figure 6-3 The eTOM Operations (OPS) Processes

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

In Figure 6-4, the OPS area is shown with level 2 processes visible. Note that, in general, a level 2
process is part of a vertical and also a horizontal level 1 process. Hence, level 2 processes can be
reached in the process hierarchy by either path (to reflect the different interests and concerns of
users). However, whichever path is used, as shown here, there is a single common set of level 2
processes. In some cases, a level 2 process is "stretched" across several vertical level 1s (e.g.,
resource data collection and processing in RM&O). This is because the process concerned is needed
in several vertical level 1s (e.g., for resource data collection and processing, the data collected from
the network (say) can represent usage data for billing but can also support fault handling or
performance assessment in assurance).

Figure 6-4 Level 2 operations (OPS) processes

This mechanism of decomposition can be extended as required. In Figure 6-5, we see an example of
the level 3 process elements within a single level 2 process element resource provisioning. Full
descriptions of decompositions to level 3 for this and other processes are included in the GB921
documentation.

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

Figure 6-5 An example of level 3 operations (OPS) processes

Strategy, infrastructure and product (SIP see Figure 6-6) has a similar structure to OPS with
corresponding vertical and horizontal level 1 processes. In the verticals, strategy and commit covers
the processes involved in forming and deciding company strategy and gaining commitment from
the business for this. Infrastructure lifecycle management covers control of the infrastructures used
in the business the network is the most obvious, but also IT infrastructure and even the human
resources of the company. Product lifecycle management covers the products themselves note that
eTOM distinguishes product (as sold to customers) from service (used internally to represent the
"technical" part of the product, i.e., excluding commercial aspects such as tariffing, T&Cs, support,
etc.) and resource (physical and non-physical components used to support service).

Figure 6-6 The eTOM strategy, infrastructure and product (SIP) processes

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

The horizontal functional groupings in SIP are aligned with those in OPS so that, if desired, the
processes included can be considered to link across smoothly from the SIP domain to the OPS
domain if this is relevant to some aspects of business behaviour in enterprises.
In Figure 6-7, the SIP area is shown with level 2 processes visible. As with OPS, a level 2 process is
part of a vertical and also a horizontal level 1 process (but note that all SIP processes fit this pattern
and there are no exceptions as in OPS).

Figure 6-7 Level 2 strategy, infrastructure and product (SIP) processes

Enterprise Management (EM see Figure 6-8) is shown in a different view this is a typical
hierarchy diagram as provided from process analysis and modelling tools used for eTOM. The top
box is EM itself (level 0), the next horizontal row shows the level 1 processes in EM and the
columns below each level 1 box show level 2 processes within that level 1 process.
Now, with this overall view of the process structure to level 2 (descriptions for all these process
elements, as well as for level 3 process elements, are in the GB921 documentation), it is important,
however, to note that this view of the processes provides very little insight into how the processes
interact. To gain this valuable additional perspective, we must look to process flows.

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ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

Figure 6-8 The eTOM enterprise management (EM) processes

6.2

Process flows

Process decompositions provide an essential insight into the process definition and content. To
understand further how the processes behave, process flows can be developed that examine how
some or all of the processes support some larger, "end-to-end" or "through" process view across the
enterprise. Such process flows are not constrained to bridge across the entire enterprise they can
have any scope that is considered meaningful and helpful to analyse but typically such process
flows involve a broad area of the enterprise processes and thus of the eTOM framework. Thus,
process flows examine some specific scenario in which the processes achieve an overall business
purpose.
To begin with, though, Figure 6-9 shows only a fragment of a process flow, where several eTOM
level 2 OPS processes can be recognized, and labelled linkages between these indicate the nature of
the transfer that arises in operation. In this case, we can see that part of handling a customer order is
shown.

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

11

Figure 6-9 Process flow (partial example only)

The process flow approach has these general characteristics:

It analyses a typical (specific) scenario.

It provides insight into the behaviour and interaction amongst processes.

It chooses to model the flow at an appropriate level of process detail.

It can use process decompositions (and vice versa) to enhance/refine detail.

The aim is to provide only an example of the process flows, i.e., only some of the possible
interactions are described in each scenario.

Thus, it typically provides a partial view of process behaviour (because flows are based on
specific scenarios).

It represents a dynamic perspective of process.

In applying this approach for eTOM process flows, it has been found that a number of different
flow-related diagram types have proved useful, considering the variety of interests (business and
technical, high level and detailed design) that need to be addressed.
First is a general positioning type of diagram that provides only limited insight into the flow but
helps focus attention on the general area of eTOM involved.

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ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

Figure 6-10 shows an example of this diagram a general process interaction diagram for a
scenario based around DSL fulfilment that is covered in the GB921 documentation. This shows
some of the process interactions that arise for this scenario but does not give any detailed insight, at
this level, into the behaviour. It is still useful for a high-level view, though.

Figure 6-10 General process interaction diagram for DSL fulfilment

ITU-T Rec. M.3050/Suppl.4 (02/2007)

13

The next diagram type, shown in Figure 6-11, is developed directly from a process analysis and
modelling tool (rather than general drawing software). Here we are working with level 2 process
elements but other levels can be used depending on the detail required. This diagram type positions
the eTOM processes in relatively the same way that they can be seen on the eTOM model diagrams
(see, for example, Figure 6-4 earlier), which assists with recognition and avoids confusion. Each
process only appears once and so sequencing of the interactions is not explicit in this diagram (it is
on the process dynamics diagrams later).

Figure 6-11 Process interaction flow diagram for DSL fulfilment (pre-sales)
An important element in flow diagrams of this kind is that of "swimlanes". These are areas in the
process flow diagram, containing typically several process elements that contribute to the overall
process flow, which scope a useful area of attention to assist the user. In this example, the
swimlanes have been drawn to represent the four horizontal functional process groupings of the
operations area of the eTOM framework since the scenario involved is focused in the operations
domain. In this arrangement, all the process elements in a specific swimlane in the diagram (e.g., in
the lowest swimlane for supplier/partner relationship management) are components of that
horizontal functional process grouping. It should be noted that swimlanes (despite their name) need
not be only horizontal, although this is a common choice for clarity, and is the approach used in
eTOM process flow diagrams.

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